Government plans to build 12 dry ports, accelerate connectivity projects to boost exports

NEW DELHI: The Government is drawing up an ambitious plan to build 12 dry satellite ports to spruce up the dozen major ports, so that they can dock super-sized ships and set up a new entity to speed up long-stalled port connectivity projects to make Indian exports more competitive.

Exporters would be able to conduct all their customs and export paperwork at the dry Inland ports from where their consignments would be forwarded and loaded onto a ship at the nearest sea port.goods to the Kandla or Mundra Ports in Gujarat, while one in Telangana would be linked to the Kakinada or Vizag Ports.

Senior Government officials said the idea was firmed up after a delegation of leaders from Telangana pointed out to the Government that the creation of the state has deprived it of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh ports that are now part of Seemandhra.

"Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari has told them the problem could be sorted out by setting up a riverine or dry port in Telangana from where goods can be transferred to the Seemandhra ports," an official said, adding export-related paperwork could also be completed at such hinterland ports.

In Telangana's case, a riverine port could be considered on the banks of the Godavari at a site that is well-connected to a national highway and the railway routes, from where goods could be sent to the Kakinada port through an inland waterway, for instance, he said.

"We are looking at 12 such dry satellite ports and are working out the details, so that we can offer states that don't have a Coastline or a port to export their products from," the official said.

The Government is also working on improving the draft capacity of India's 12 major ports, where docking areas are currently only 12 metres deep, making the largest and most cost-effective ships out of bounds for Indian exporters.

"We can't get 200,000-tonne super ships without a draft of 18 metres, so we are looking at a tie-up between Cochin Shipyard and a foreign technology partner to boost our dredging capacity and deepen the existing ports to 18 metres," the official explained.

All the major ports have also been asked to consider shelling out Rs 100 crore to Rs 200 crore from their profits to pool in equity for a new corporation that will focus on executing port connectivity projects worth Rs 20,000 crore that had been announced years ago but have seen little work on the ground. The new entity would likely be operational by October this year, officials said.

Source : dailyshippingtimes.com